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Greece banks on China for Tourism boom

Α total of 150,000 Chinese tourists visited Greece last year, Alternate Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura said adding that if that number increased to 500,000-1,000,000, she would be very happy.

The success of Greek tourism would be the increase of revenues proportionally to the arrivals, she said in an interview with Praktorio 104.9 FM.

According to official data, 150,000 tourists from China came to Greece in 2015, while in previous years the annual arrivals did not exceed 40,000. As Kountoura stated, there is great potential to increase tourist arrivals from China.

“We need to promote Greece, we are non-existent there; these are difficult markets and we cannot beat competition from other European countries that have fivefold and sixfold budgets for their promotion,” Kountoura stated and added that the decision taken by the Greek government for doubling the funds for tourism promotion will also help new tourism markets such as China, Middle East, South Korea, Iran, etc.

Referring to tourist arrivals, she said that they are at satisfactory levels, despite the fact that 2016 is also a very difficult year for Greek tourism.

Anson David is an entrepreneur with a passion for the travel and hospitality industry. His marketing acumen permits him to take ideas to market fast and develop niche businesses. Based on the idyllic Mediterranean island of Malta, Anson enjoys snorkelling, squash, cooking and driving classic cars.